Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

The Committee To Tar And Feather Lisa Moody, Tie Her Up With Duct Tape, Throw Her Out The Window And Embarrass Her Boss began its investigative meeting Wednesday, the New Haven Independent reported , “into an Election Enforcement Commission decision on a fundraising mistake made by Gov. M. Jodi Rell's chief of staff and subsequent settlement negotiated by her campaign manager.” No sooner had the committee convened, the Hartford Courant reported than the kids had to take a recess: “A rank-and-file Democrat asked for a recess. Lawmakers said they tried to remind Caruso and Meyer (both Democrat top-guns) behind closed doors that they should be respectful of the Republicans' complaints. "The whole tenor of the room seemed to be too tension filled," said Rep. David McCluskey, D-West Hartford, admitting he's worried the bad feelings will only fester. "The thought was, the recess would be one way to clear the air."

State House Assistant Majority Leader David McCluskey regretted the remark almost as soon as it left his mouth . “In spite of all the many good things Senator Lieberman has done,” McCluskey said, “this (Iraq war) is the overriding moral issue, and if he doesn’t change his position, I cannot be with him in good conscience. He needs to come to Jesus on this one." McCluskey apologized not because he crossed Thomas Jefferson’s “wall of separation,” an ideological picket line that is supposed to prevent an impermissible mixture of religion and politics, but because he thought the comment might offend a devout Orthodox Jew. If McCluskey had made the remark while testifying before a legislative hearing, Lieutenant Governor Kevin Sullivan might well have demanded that McCluskey quit his job and join Victim Advocate James Papillo on the unemployment line. Good thing that McCluskey was addressing peace activists rather than legislators. Has Governor Jodi Rell heard about this?